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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26871865">A Game of Mau</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudsgrl/pseuds/cloudsgrl'>cloudsgrl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Paradox by Coronum (Alternate Reality Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Reality Game, Based on ARG, Horror, Meta, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Second Person, Social Anxiety, Social Media, Tags Contain Spoilers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:09:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>586</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26871865</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudsgrl/pseuds/cloudsgrl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Mao (or Mau) is a card game of the shedding family. The aim is to get rid of all of the cards in hand without breaking certain unspoken rules which tend to vary by venue. The game is from a subset of the Stops family and is similar in structure to the card game Uno or Crazy Eights.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>  <em>The game forbids its players from explaining the rules, and new players are often informed that "the only rule you may be told is this one".</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>- - -</p>
<p>Their tweet reads: "Have you heard of Coronum? No? Yes? Well, we want to hear your opinion either way!" and links to a survey asking questions like "What is your opinion on A.I.?" and "Do you think an A.I. could pass off as a human?"</p>
<p>It feels sketchy, but you respond anyway.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Game of Mau</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first message came from a Twitter account, labelled as “ParadoxbyCoronum” and seemed to be testing their messaging capabilities. </p>
<p><em>Is this thing set up properly?</em> It read. <em>Oh, great. It looks like it is.</em></p>
<p>You stare at the messages, sitting in your “Message Requests” section of your DMs. You shouldn’t have even noticed the little notification, considering your privacy settings wouldn’t inform you of these message requests. But you did.</p>
<p>Your finger hovers over the back button, prepared to just leave the messages and let them wallow in your other messages for eternity or until Twitter auto-deletes them. You read the message again. You click on their profile picture and stare at their only Tweet. Something about a new section of Coronum? What’s Coronum?</p>
<p>Your finger hovers over the delete message and instead you respond:</p>
<p>{ <em>I’m just seeing this.</em> You type, almost immediately regretting hitting send. You fidget on your phone, doom scrolling Twitter and checking for notifications.</p>
<p><em>Oh, hello there!</em> }  The response almost immediately is returned.</p>
<p>You fumble with your phone. Do you respond immediately? Do you make them wait?<br/>
And why would a new company with a Twitter account established - you raise your eyebrows at the date - not even a week ago message you?</p>
<p>{ <em>What’s up?</em> That’s a totally chill message, you tell yourself. Not a problem. Gives whoever’s on the other side an attempt to explain why they messaged you first, or continue with small talk. You’d prefer answers, but you know -</p>
<p><em>I'm a part of Paradox's public outreach team, and was wondering if you could fill out a quick survey?</em> }</p>
<p>Public outreach? Like a PR team? Normally you try and let these sorts of people down gently, or you mark the e-mails and such as spam. But now you’re restless, and you start bouncing one of your legs.</p>
<p>You respond politely, wanting answers. But you also remember this is a person doing their job, and they’re probably not intentionally making your anxiety flare up.</p>
<p>{ <em>Public outreach, huh? May I ask what the survey is specifically for before accepting?</em> Perfect, you can back out if you’re not interested but still let’s them give you more information.</p>
<p>There’s a pause. You take a deep breath, returning to doom scrolling Twitter. </p>
<p><em>The survey has been produced by Coronum, and is meant to gauge things such as . . .</em>}<br/>
<em>. . . actually hold on, let me take a peak at the survey quickly.</em> }</p>
<p>{ <em>Take your time, no rush!</em> You tell them, wondering if it’s worth dropping the conversation for your sanity. You’ve been busy, taking care of your responsibilities and Twitter was supposed to be a break from that but responding in this way is just putting you back in the same negative work mindset and customer service and -</p>
<p><em>Alright, so the survey is to see how familiar the person taking it is with Coronum as a company. No wrong answers!</em> }</p>
<p>How familiar Coronum is? You know nothing about Coronum. And a quick Google search only pull up how Coronum was a type of currency, which can’t be what they’re referring to.</p>
<p>You bite your lips and type quickly.</p>
<p>{ <em>Sure, I have time. I must admit I don't know how much if anything, but I'm willing to help.</em></p>
<p><em>No answer is a wrong answer!</em> } They remind you and attach the link.</p>
<p>The survey asks questions like "What is your opinion on A.I.?" and "Do you think an A.I. could pass off as a human?"</p>
<p>You feel uncomfortable. You’re wondering if you should have said no.</p>
<p>You respond anyway.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>"Paradox, by Coronum" is a currently-on-hiatus ARG that stretches from Twitter to Discord to multiple websites a Google classroom, and possibly more. During my time participating and getting to know other players, I have become known for my *cough* Bot Thirst, and as such my fellow player characters have proceeded to tease me on how fond I am of a specific character(s).</p>
<p>This is a fanfic of "You" getting to experience "romance" with an AI.  Take that as you will. We'll see how this goes.</p>
<p>If you're interested in signing up and participating in the ARG when it returns to being active, I suggest looking up "Paradox by Coronum" and seeing what you find. (Or you can ask me here, I have no problem sharing!!)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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